Konza unveils drive to plant 20,000 trees in two months

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 8 – The Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA) is set to plant 20,000 trees within two months in Konza Technopolis, Makueni County.

The project, done in collaboration with the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI), Kenya Forest Service, and primary schools in the region, is set to create a green urban environment in the region while spearheading actions against tackling climate change.

Speaking during the launch of the campaign, KoTDA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) John Tanui said that the planting exercise was part of the Konza Greening Program whose objective is to establish a 10 million smart tree nursery that will provide a healthy city environment for residents and the neighboring communities around Konza.

“We have made a decision to launch this initiative whereby in the next two months, we look forward to plant over 20,000 trees here at the Technopolis. This is part of our Konza greening initiative which aims at increasing our forest cover as a nation.” said Tanui.

He further added that the authority has set aside 50 acres of land in the area that is to be used for tree planting during this season’s short rains.

Also present during the launch was KEFRI Regional Director Eston Mutitu who added that the timing of the project was decided to prepare the trees for the long rains.

“We are trying to make sure that we give these trees a major booster with the short rains which we are anticipating. We are only going to water these trees for two weeks and after the short rains, we shall also be expecting the long rains,” he said.

He further noted that the project would require a collaborative effort between the residents and stakeholders in order to ensure its success.

“Whereas we aim to increase the forest cover to over 10 percent by 2022, we take note that we cannot do this alone. This exercise is therefore very key in environmental conservation and climate change in general,” he added.